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MetalBite Review by Tobias on 11/26/2001

This was the album that introduced me to In Flames. When I first had the album in my hands, I thought, “Hell, the band should be named Whoracle!” I was pretty impressed with the concept and found myself even further intrigued with the melodic yet brutal music.

The vision on this disc is one that is crushingly masculine, but it is also young and unpolished. But well-honed or not, you are bearing witness to a vicious growth spurt for what will probably soon be a legend in metal.

The not-so-gentle gents in this band smack you around with one aural gauntlet after another, with arrangements that many bands aren’t even sure how to dream of. The boys, particularly the guitarists, are starting to show the cohesiveness of veterans; the riffing is diverse enough to keep your attention even if you were brought up on a steady diet of Fruit Loops and pixie-stix, yet not unwieldy between the two six-stringers. The drums are coming to light, but are still a little rough.

All in all, the songwriting is intense stuff, landing some serious waste in the paths of tracks like Jotun or Morphing Into Primal. That isn’t to say there aren’t problems though; in cases like The Hive or parts of Food for the Gods, the songs seem to lose a little direction and come out sounding a bit rough.

Bottom Line: At the end of the day, these new masters will turn you into a raging war machine with enough adrenaline ripping through your system to kick-start 10 OD’d heroin junkies.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 9

Rating: 7.8 of 10

Submitted by Michal on 11/4/2004

If you are into the whole Swedish melodic death metal scene, you probably already own this album. A true classic of the genre... this cd shows a lot of growth from the Jester Race. Very dark and moving album. This is a somewhat different In Flames than the band today, but it is all good in my opinion.

Submitted by chaos on 1/6/2006

Their best album...followed by Colony & Jester Race.

Submitted by adamj,DsM on 10/13/2006

Sorry friend, first Jester Race/Blk Ash,then Colony(delux w/Man Made God),followed by Whoracle.Jotun & Dialouge w/ stars are the Jewls of this album.

Submitted by kylereece on 12/2/2006

This album was my introduction to In Flames and I was pleasently surprised. The album presents a great balance of melodic death metal and Euro style dark riffery that provides a suitable headbang without the excessive blastbeats and indecipherable vocals that sometimes hinder extreme metal bands. Lead track Jotum provides a good example of what the listener will recieve throughout the album, tight, clear production, vocals that are dark but not cartoonish in any way, and melody-laden guitars (though the solos are pretty lightweight)which serve to make he songs more accessible than your average death metal material. Fave songs here start with the excellent Gyroscope with its unorthodox song structure and simple yet effective bridge harmonies, Jester Script Transfigured, a melodic death metal take on the clean verse, distorted chorus formula and Everything Counts, an introspective headbanger that leads to a soothing acoustic outro that finishes the album. For fans of bands such as Soilwork, All That Remains and ArchEnemy this album is definitedly worth the price of admission. I give it an 8 out of 10.